JUG Ho!

Who is your Jug? Asked Blog Adda. That got me thinking ..yeah who is actually my Jug? Do I even have a Jug? The answer did not come to me as a surprise. I do. 

I shared my love, laughter, tears, adventures, misadventures with my Jug. My Jug has been with me forever. But yeah the workings of the relationship has changed a bit. When I was in 4th Std I first met my Jug. I did not know that that friendship will last this long. But it did. Even after a brief separation our relationship continued. I would always lay bare my heart to my Jug. And my Jug always listened patiently. 

I remember the first separation. I was in 9th or 10th Std may be. Few people found out about my strange fascination with my Jug and no one understood that. I had kept that hidden till then. I just never thought it was for others to see and judge. That relationship was mine and mine alone. Not to be shared with the whole world. But alas! People found out and we were humiliated. I was hurt and confused. I was made to think that it was "not correct"; whatever being correct meant. We broke up. Rather I did. Vowed never to get into a relationship with another Jug again.

It took me good 15 years to be back with Jug again. But this time it was there for everyone to see. I never kept it hidden. Then something very strange happened. I came to know that there are creatures like me and they are in fact accepted in this world. There no one laughed and raised an eye brow about my relationship with my Jug. That left me wondering where was I all these years! 

For you My Jug

You must be wondering why am I referring to My Jug as My Jug all the time. Because My Jug doesnot have a gender.  My Jug is my blog “Dear Diary”. I used to keep a diary as a child and used to write whatever (non)sense I wanted to. Noone back then understood that. Someone found out my diary and a very humiliating public reading followed. Somethings were never meant to be shared. Those were strictly for Dear Diary’s pages only. Yes I had named my diary “Dear Dairy” back then too. I burnt my diary and never kept one for a long time to follow.

One fine day I discovered blogging. I started to write. My first blog was in an website called bihu.in It’s not updated since 2007. I myself opened that today as I am typing these words and look what I found. My last post was in 17^th April 2007 and I wrote about Memoirs of A Geisha. In fact the page did not look like this back then. Anyway, in 2007 I had moved to Blogger and started Dear Diary. Again a gap of few years and this quirky relationship is continuing on and off. My Jug is my Dear Diary where I write about “Everything that makes me smile”. Age and time have made me slightly cynical. I now know where to draw the line and when and how vulnerable you should appear to the world. But I feel alive and liberated when I scribble on the pages of Dear Diary. That’s what a friend does; right?

BTW do you know the song that I want for my Jug..."Jug ghoomiya thare jaisa na koi.." Yeah I know I should crack better jokes than this. :)  

Image source 

“I am writing about Jug in my life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda“.

Thank you Dear Zindagi!

Dear Zindagi,

Aye zindagi gale lagale

Hum ne bhi tere har ek gham ko

Gale se lagaya hain ; Hain na!

Yes. Zindagi, I am writing this to you. You are my yaar, dost, friend. We fight, we make up; we cry,we laugh. I know I have never expressed how I feel about you. But it's never too late to say what you want to say. So here I am, writing this to you, to let you know how I feel about you.

At times you drive me crazy and I hate you. But the very next moment you find a way to make me smile and be in love with you even more.

You have been that strict teacher to an unruly undisciplined student ; me. But you have been also been that caring friend who would be there whenever I needed someone. You taught me to cherish every moment. Like most teenager I was a rebel too. You taught me to be responsible even in being a rebel. I tend to go crazy with my “over thinking head”. And I cannot thank you enough for being so patient with me and my whimsical ways.

I owe you to my parents. They always did the best for us. Us are I and my siblings. But along with them, dear Zindagi, you too have contributed to make me the woman I am today. You gave me friends who stood by me in my toughest days. Whenever I thought that was it and I could not take anything anymore; the most important lesson you taught was that "Life finds a way". Yes, it does; you do and so do we.

P & I

You gave me P my soul mate. Before I met him I tend to be a little hard on you. I am sorry. I had built a wall around me and pretended to be cold and uncaring. Now as I look back to those days, I realise you tried to make me see how beautiful the world around me was. Like a stubborn child, I refused to bulge. But you being you; finally found a way to break the wall and to bring out the real me. Thank you for P. He made me let go off my “too much worrying” ways and smile more often. Now I don’t take you that seriously. You know what I mean, right? Now I have finally accepted you as you are. I am not scared of dreaming nor am I scared of letting go.

You know what, I always thought I have to run along with this fast paced world or else I would lag behind. You helped me find my pace and make peace with that. It’s ok to walk if I can’t run. Now I stop to admire that sky, that sight, that sunset, that tree. I am no longer in the race of making it to the top with flying colours. Strangely that does not affect me anymore. I don’t care. I just want to be happy and content. The 0 (Zero)s in the bank account do not matter that much that used to few years back.

But hey there is one complain to you I have; rather P has. Even after all these years I have always remained that clumsy girl I was. No one could change that thing about me. But then I guess somethings are meant to be forever and my clumsiness is one.

Thank you #dearzindagi .

Much Love

Moi

“I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda“.

Make a wish and mix - Christmas Cake mixing at Renaissance Hotel

Thank you Renaissance Hotel and Convention centre, Mumbai for giving me the chance to be a part of my first ever Christmas Cake mixing ceremony. I have always read about it, seen photographs and wishing how I also wanted to be a part. That wish came true today and guess what, this gave me a chance to make another wish too.

 It is said that the Christmas Cake mixing ceremony dates back to 17^th Century in Europe. This ceremony marked the arrival of harvest season and lots of fruits and nuts were harvested and then preserved for the next harvest season. This turned into a family get-together where everyone would join hands, literally, to soak the dry fruits and nuts in Rum, Wine and Brandy. Over the years it became of big ceremony which fall well in advance of Christmas so that the fruits totally soak in the liquor and thus when mixed in the cake, they add to the whole taste of it.

Roasted Pork Leg

My lunch

Before the ceremony actually started, we were treated to the sumptuous Italian brunch spread at Fratelli Fresh. I loved the roasted Pork leg with the apple sauce. The Ravioli and Gnocchi were phenomenal. I had 2 new desserts Crostata di Fruta and Zuccotto; and I liked the former more. 

Desserts

Then the bell went "ting ting" marking the beginning of Cake mixing ceremony. The guests were given chef caps, aprons and gloves before everyone put their hands into the large trays of fruits and nuts. Bottles of Rum, Wine and Brandy were poured into the fruit trays and then there was lots of laughter and giggles all around. We all joined our hands with the chefs and mixed the fruits and nuts into all those booze. These booze soaked fruits and nuts will be kept in air tight containers for 3-4 weeks. By the that time they will completely soak in the booze and be ready to add much more flavour to the final 

cake. 

The guests getting ready

In action

And yes I did make a wish as I was mixing. That I would like keep as a secret for the time being. 

All set